Save the Universe by Breaking It
by 23blenders
Summary: Sunday's Noon cannot go against the will of his severely warped leader, yet he knows that Sunday and the rest of the Days cannot remain in power. He finds out that Monday's Noon, formerly Monday's Dusk, is assisting the new Heir in deposing the Days one by one. Definitely an element of AU to the Keys part of the story.
1. Chapter 1

**Those who came from the Kid Icarus section, you probably know who I am already. Keys to the Kingdom people, hello! I have been wanting to do this crossover for awhile now and I think I can do it coherently. There are changed details, made so that I can fit everything together better. And this won't be a proper adventure or anything, but it won't be a one shot either since I plan to do a couple more scenes. Spoilers, mostly for KttK. Especially later, since I have a plan for the ending.  
**

**...It has also been awhile since I read the books, so if something is off that I didn't intend, I may just be misremembering it.  
**

* * *

It was a Tuesday, and Sunday's Noon was in the process of stealing away for a bit of a break. There was never anything interesting to do in the Incomparable Gardens anyway, but he'd heard a bit of news earlier. News that Lord Sunday felt to be of no consequence, but if Noon knew Monday's Dusk at all, shit was about to go down.

It was about _time_. He had watched his leader for ages slowly decline into a Denizen that had no more than a passing resemblance to the Goddess he had once been. The pride the Goddess had been cursed with had eventually convinced her that she would be a more imposing figure as a male, and so left her identity behind to fully assume the role she had been given as Lord Sunday.

His Noon followed him nonetheless, a now tired determination to save him if possible in place. Sunday had made it all but impossible for him to do anything though. However, not all was lost. He could not act directly, but others had the same thoughts without the bindings Sunday's Noon had.

Noon arrived in a world quite familiar to him. He smiled a bit as he approached a marble pillar, crumbling from lack of maintenance. Back before Sunday had changed herself to Lord Sunday, she had kept this place from falling into ruin and visited frequently. As the broken Will of the Architect took effect, however, she came here less and less, finally remodeling herself as the Lord Sunday and all but forgetting her origins. Her Noon never forgot though, and enjoyed visiting his old home.

"I was hoping you'd be here." came a familiar voice. Noon turned around and for a moment, drew a blank. Before him was a white and silver garbed individual, with a silver tongue and white wings like his own and metallic golden eyes.

But there was no mistaking him. It was Dart. Or, as Noon liked to call him sometimes...

"Pittoo!"

He rushed to his brother and threw his arms around him in an embrace.

"Yeah, I missed you too Pit." he chuckled, returning the gesture in a bone-crushing hug. "Didn't I tell you to stop calling me Pittoo though?"

Pit laughed as they broke apart.

"You've been busy." Pit commented as he took in his twin's new appearance. Dart now had the appearance of the office of Noon. He had previously been Monday's Dusk, garbed in primarily dark colors with a black tongue and the black wings he had been born with.

"Yes, and we need to talk. Part one of the Will has been freed, and it chose a mortal to inherit the Keys. The heir is a child named Arthur, and as I'm sure you've heard, he's taken the first Key from Monday." This wasn't anything Pit hadn't already heard, but now it was being confirmed to him that it was true and that Dart indeed had a hand in it.

"What is he going to do with Mister Monday?" Pit asked.

"He lifted the curse. I've spoken with Monday, he really is back to his old self."

Pit smiled with relief. Perhaps there was hope.

"Good job, Dart. Do you think this kid can overcome us? You know I will have to oppose him. Lord Sunday knows better than to leave me any loopholes."

Dart nodded, sympathy in his features. Sunday had given Pit strict orders (backed by the power of the Key) long ago that prevented him from fully turning traitor in any way. He could, and did, think what he wanted however.

"Don't worry, Pit. I'll help him. As you can see, he gave me a promotion."

Pit stepped back to take in his brother's new appearance.

"It suits you. Now we look almost like identical twins. Just the hair is off."

"As is appropriate. We never really were that different, you know."

Dart paused, a sly little grin on his face.

"It suits me, you say... is that a roundabout compliment to yourself?"

The brothers' laughter rang through the empty ruins of Skyworld. Having done most of the talking they could (without giving Pit details that could be forced from him) they spent some time acting like they didn't have so many cares and responsibilities. This was was kept both of them sane, being able to come back here and visit with one another. They both had to sneak out to accomplish this though, making such visits rare.

If he'd known that things would get so bad, and that only his twin would be able to support him in the way he needed, then Dart might have taken the post of Sunday's Dusk, or advised Pit and Palutena against having anything to do with the House at all. But things had been much more friendly in the beginning, and he'd had no reason to think he'd be blocked from checking in on Pit. So he chose to be Dusk under A Denizen that had been called from another world to be Monday. It had appealed to his sense of curiosity and adventure, and they had gotten along well for a time. Both brothers had been fully aware, when the broken Will began to warp its holders, that it wasn't natural. Pit especially mourned what his beloved Goddess had become under the Will's curse.

Once, she had been the Goddess of Light. Pit was her captain, Dart was his incomplete clone created during the Uprising. One day the ruler of the gods, Zeus, came to visit Skyworld. Palutena was being offered the responsibility of assisting six other Trustees in implementing a will left by a being even greater than Zeus himself, a will concerning the fate of all creation. He could not leave their world to do it himself, but he could rearrange the gods to be sure Palutena's realm was supported in her absence, should she choose to take the role being offered. She had accepted, because her own father had offered it and because it she understood it to be a very important task. Pit had, of course, stayed right by her side and supported her by becoming her Noon. Dart was on his own, but adulthood had calmed his fiery temper and given him a somewhat different view on responsibility. When Zeus approached Palutena, Dart was also offered a job in the House. He was interested, so he accepted. And anyway, he still had to keep an eye on Pit, who would no longer be in their world full time.

At some point, Palutena had been horrified to realize what the Will intended. And so she, along with the other Trustees, did what she thought was best: broke it into seven pieces and hid her piece in an attempt to keep all the secondary realms, her own world included, safe. And it had cursed the Trustees in retaliation, filling Palutena with Pride and Arrogance, turning Pit against what she had become. Alas, the activities of the seven warped Trustees damaged the universe irreparably, with the millennia spent abusing the Nothing that both brought forth all of creation and could annihilate it in an instant.

Because of this, Sunday's Noon and Monday's Dusk began to wonder if the Architect's Will should be done after all. There seemed to be no right answer, but the seven Trustees of the Will would eventually destroy the universe. With that being an obvious 'wrong' answer, the brothers decided that if the opportunity arose, they would help fulfill the Will.

This decision caused Lord Sunday to bind Pit's will to his and to block Monday's Dusk out of the Incomparable Gardens.

Now the brothers were reduced to sneaking back to Skyworld and hoping that the other managed to get there at the same time to see each other. There was nobody else either could trust, and Pit's binding to Lord Sunday prevented Dart from being able to share much when he began to hatch a plan to change things. Monday, having been cursed with an apathetic laziness, didn't pay much attention to what his Dusk did. Now the wheels were in motion, and neither quite knew how to feel about it. They didn't want the definite end to the world that the Will's completion would bring, but both now saw the increasing instability of the universe and knew the Trustees needed to be deposed. So far, the only way to do that seemed to be to have the Heir that the Will chose inherit all the seven Keys that the Trustees held. So Dart was committed to seeing the Will's completion through to the end. Pit could only stand by and hope to find some way to not be ordered to put a stop to it.

Eventually, the visit had to come to an end. Pit gave a worried goodbye and a whispered good luck to his brother. Finally, an almost inaudible apology for the resistance he knew he must give the Heir and his brother when the time came.

Dart watched the conflict on his twin's face, and gave a reassuring smile. He would do whatever it took to help the boy, Arthur, with his mission. Unfortunately, he could do no more than guide because powerful though his position was, Arthur had still more power as the Heir. They all had to place their hopes with this boy.

The brothers parted ways, and prepared for the storm to arrive.


	2. Chapter 2

A few months had passed since that visit with Pit, and nothing was happening fast.

Arthur had bailed temporarily on the whole mess, and Dart couldn't blame the kid. He was only twelve years old and it was a lot to have dropped on him. At least he was planning to return, and waiting until he was older was probably a good idea anyway. Sadly, Grim Tuesday had caused trouble, making it necessary to call the boy back. However, getting him from his world, Earth, to the House was a difficult proposition. Especially since time passed differently in the two worlds. Arthur had fallen asleep on his own Earth, with merely a few hours passing there. From Dart's perspective in the House, Arthur had been snoozing away for months. It made a mess of things for everyone.

In his absence, Arthur had set the sentient First Part of the Will as Steward of the First Key and the Lower House that he had won from Mister Monday. So Dart, as Monday's Noon, answered to her now. Arthur had also appointed a child that had been of great help to him as Monday's Tierce, an assistant to Dart. The child was named Suzy Turquoise Blue, and she was one of the many children stolen from Earth and brought to the House by the mysterious Piper, who himself had been absent now for several centuries. The children remained, and were perpetually juvenile and almost Denizen themselves as a result of their residence in the House. They were much hardier than normal mortals, but not as indestructible as proper Denizens of the House and much smarter and capable of change.

Dart hadn't been sure at first of having this girl under his wing, but she proved to be fairly useful. When she liked you, she was reasonably eager to please and she definitely liked Monday's Noon. She did not, however, like the First Part of the Will. It had taken the form of a tall, imposing woman by the name of Dame Primus that had an obsession with being proper and trying to make the young Tierce behave properly as well. Dart could get along well with Dame Primus, mostly because he had the ability to hold his tongue and behaved in a manner that she could accept. At the time of his unnatural birth via magic mirror, they would have hated each other.

As it was, Dart preferred Suzy's method of doing... well, everything.

Dart was approaching Monday's Dayroom when he heard a shouting match going down. He thought about ignoring it, but this was a particularly loud one, going on between the usual two suspects. He gave pause at the first snippet he heard.

"-down in the Pit-"

Dart blinked, thinking for a moment that they were somehow referring to his brother, but realized almost instantly that the 'Pit' they were referring was the Far Reaches, dominion of Grim Tuesday. Nobody here knew his name, or Dart's even. He had to stifle a snort as he mentally filed that association away to taunt Pit with the next time they met. Then he listened to the yelling again.

"You were supposed to be in your room, not sneaking about and using the Seven Dials behind my back! I should lock you in there next time!"

"Well you weren't doing anything useful! While you were here signing papers and having meetings, I was actually _helping_ Arthur!"

"You were making more paperwork for me! There are channels we have to go through, Miss Blue! Things that need to be accounted for! Not that you have any sense of accountability."

Dart rolled his eyes. Suzy and Dame Primus were at it again. While he personally preferred Suzy's method of accomplishing things, he couldn't deny that the paper pushing method Dame Primus used had its uses, along with her expertise in knowing exactly what to file and where to send it.

Either way, it sounded like he should figure out what was going on. Suzy had mentioned Arthur, and if the Heir was involved that was his Noon's cue to butt in.

"Good evening, ladies. I heard a disturbance coming from here. Might I ask why you two are shouting about Lord Arthur?"

"Great, maybe you can help me!" the young girl babbled turning to him. Dame Primus sniffed in annoyance.

"Suzy was just telling me about how she disobeyed her orders to remain in her room for the next few years and roped the butler into becoming her accomplice in interfering with Lord Arthur."

Dart raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, yeah I broke your rules. But he's in the House now! But he's also in the Far Reaches! Noon, we gotta go help him! He can't stay in there!" Suzy exclaimed, squirming with impatience.

"I assume that's an offer to help, Suzy?" he asked. His assistant nodded enthusiastically.

"Well then, why not send her? She would be more effective than a regular denizen. We just need to figure out the logistics of getting Lord Arthur out of the Pit and find a way to conceal anything we need on Suzy's person. I can take care of getting her sent there through the proper channels."

Suzy whooped with excitement as Dame Primus gave Noon a slightly withering look. Then she addressed the girl.

"Fine. Grim Tuesday _deserves_ to have you on his doorstep, and good riddance! I suppose if we're sending her to find Lord Arthur, she will need to locate him. And the best way for him to get back out is a pair of wings. I'll just send her with ascension wings so he's not tempted to go anywhere else with them..."

Dart frowned. He wasn't quite sure about Dame Primus and how far she would go for her own convenience, but it sure sounded like she was planning to bring only Arthur back out of the Pit.

"You're probably right, Suzy especially might want to go exploring. Ascension wings would be best for the both of them." he agreed, getting the message across that getting Suzy back was also a priority. Dame Primus frowned slightly, but all her plans from there included both children.

Dart, meanwhile, wrote a note that he sent to a person in the Middle House that he knew. He could send Suzy and her contract to him, then that guy could sell the contract to Grim Tuesday so she could become one of his messengers. That would work to physically get her there.

While he wrote that out, he vaguely heard Dame Primus discussing spells and ways to conceal magic well enough to avoid suspicion. She might have some skewed priorities, but when she got down to business she didn't mess around. She was currently putting a spell on Suzy's fingernail- that was clever, she couldn't lose that- to give her cues when she got closer to Arthur.

A couple hours later, Suzy was fully prepared to enter the Far Reaches and Dart sent her off, crossing his fingers.

"Oh, and I should mention... she can't perform her duties as Monday's Tierce and my assistant if she's locked in her room for the next few years..." Dart said to the imposing Steward of the Lower House as they watched the girl leave.

She gave a short laugh.

"It isn't like she does half her duties anyway."

Dart shrugged slightly. Suzy performed well under the right circumstances, and unfortunately Dame Primus excelled at giving her tasks that were, well... useless. Naturally, Suzy wanted nothing to do with grammar lessons and learning how to behave properly. Dart would personally do away with them, but he thought it would be best to remain on good terms with Dame Primus.

"Still, I need her more often than you let me have her. I would prefer if her time wasn't being wasted on fruitless punishment."

She hmphed, but didn't disagree. It wasn't like timeouts had helped Suzy's manners anyway, and Monday's Noon was making a fair request. Suzy _is_ his assistant.

"Fine, I will find some other means of correcting her. For now, I will contact you if I hear from Lord Arthur. I trust you to do the same. Good day to you."

With that, Dame Primus swept grandly from Monday's Dayroom. Dart watched her leave, then decided it was time for a break. He glanced around to make sure he was alone, then procured an ice cream sundae from nowhere. He smirked at it, then he ate a few spoonfuls while still watching to be sure noone showed up. However delightful though this was, something didn't feel quite right.

He sat on the floor with it and set the dish down also on the floor. His smiler grew wider.

Now it was perfect.


	3. Chapter 3

Dart smiled for a second. He had just heard back from his assistant and Lord Arthur. He had exceeded Dart's expectations and deposed Grim Tuesday. He and Dame Primus were on their way to the Far Reaches to help the transfer of power go smoothly and to figure out the next step.

However, the conflict was not over; A crisis was happening in the bottom of the Pit. The Pit was a result of millennia of mining for Nothing, which Grim Tuesday shaped into various objects and then sold to the other parts of the House. The miners had hit a well of Nothing, and it was threatening to break free and obliterate the Far Reaches. The rest of the House wouldn't be far behind if this happened.

As usual, Arthur was the only one who could contain the mess. He had the second Key, and thus the power to hold back the Nothing. When Dart and Dame Primus arrived, they were surprised to find that the action was already over.

See, elevators in the House are a curious thing. There was one that took Arthur straight to the bottom of the mind bogglingly deep Pit within minutes, and he took care of the problem very quickly.

Then the elevator told him it was too tired to take him back up at the same speed, so Arthur was stuck in it for quite awhile yet.

There was plenty to do in his absence though. The Second part of the Will had been freed, and it had recognized Arthur as the Heir. He could never have taken the Key otherwise, and it now waited for them at Grim Tuesday's Pyramid. Upon recognizing the bear the the second part of the Will had taken the form of, Dame Primus approached it and combined with it. Now Dame Primus was parts one and two of the Will, and set about setting things in order.

She and Dart were both surprised to find the Mariner, a son of the Architect and a captain who usually sailed all over the secondary realms, in attendance. Dart had vaguely remembered hearing that Tuesday had captured the man, but it hadn't been his concern. Despite this he had a respect for the Mariner born of the recognition of a just individual while also possessing great power.

When they caught each other's eye, grizzled captain and ageless angel, both inclined their heads a fraction of an inch. Dart suspected the Mariner knew more about him than he let on. He knew the Mariner had been to Skyworld before, and so probably even knew his relationship to Sunday's Noon. Dart saw knowledge flicker in the old man's eyes in that moment and was grateful for his discretion. He didn't need his loyalties being questioned now of all times, and if others found out that his own brother was Sunday's Noon... exactly that would happen.

He smirked slightly when he saw the Mariner slipping something into Suzy's hand and whisper to her. The old man turned a little then, as if he felt Dart's smirk, but didn't react otherwise.

They had an unspoken understanding. Dart could easily guess that the token was intended to be of help to Arthur and fully approved of it. This meant no telling Dame Primus. They were all on the same page.

He smirked again later when Suzy 'stumbled' into Arthur in order to deliver the token to him, clearly intending to hide it from Dart's watchful eye. Little did she know, she was dealing with the master here. Dart had pulled many deceptions and pranks on no less than Palutena, who was now the high Lord Sunday. He was an old hand at tricks and she'd never fool him.

Later on, when Dame Primus had left and Arthur was back at his home...

"You saw that, didn't you Noon?"

Dart laughed raucously. Suzy looked bemused.

"...I didn't know you could laugh." she pouted, unhappy at having been discovered.

"Don't worry, kid. I'm on your side, I promise."

She shot him a look that held a mixture of suspicion, curiosity, and surprise.

"What do you mean?" she asked cautiously. Dart shrugged.

"I've been scheming and have had ulterior motives since my birth, which was long before you were dreamed up. Don't underestimate me."

She blinked, then unexpectedly nodded. Despite the warning that she might have taken, it actually put her more at ease to know this about Noon. She had little choice but to trust him anyway, and when she thought about it had little reason to distrust him. He had been nothing but helpful so far.

"If you would, don't ever mention this conversation to Dame Primus. I already tread on eggshells around her, and I think if she knew I was normal she would be a lot more difficult for me to work with. She's already difficult enough."

"Oh yes. I won't rat you out, don't worry Noon! I wish she would leave me alone though. Why don't you just work away from her? I would, if I could."

"Because she is the Steward, and is closely connected with Lord Arthur. I can best help him if I keep all the pieces in my sight."

"What does that mean?"

"I'm keeping tabs on her."

"Oh. Well, better you than me. At least she doesn't send you to your room and make you wear awful dresses."

"That, Suzy, is because I learned how to act. And... ugh, never mind."

"What?! You can't do that! You have to tell me now!" the girl protested.

"Mmm, you should have seen what I used to wear. Before I became Monday's Dusk. Some thought it looked rather... skirt-like."

Suzy blinked.

"...Before you became Monday's Dusk?"

"...And that's all you need to hear for now."

"Do you have a picture of yourself in that skirt?"

He narrowed his eyes at the small girl.

"Nope, _sadly_ enough. Now, I believe we have work to do. Here, take these papers."

"I think you're lying. I'm going to find out what you looked like before."

"... Dame Primus needs these papers, so I'll need you to get right on bringing these to her."

"Hey! Noon, I thought we were on the same side!"

Dart smirked down at her.

"I told you not to underestimate me, kid. I can hold my own against you."

Suzy glared at her superior.

"Is that your game face, Suzy? Good girl, you'll need it. Remember, I'm not the enemy and you would do well to learn how to appease Dame Primus. I can help deflect her somewhat, but you have to learn to do it yourself. It'll serve you well."

She had stopped glaring and was nodding, finally comprehending a use for learning the lessons Dame Primus liked to give her to make her behave properly. She didn't want to be a lady, but perhaps she could live with acting like one to sneak around behind Dame Primus' back better. As she walked away, she put the stack of papers on her head and tried to walk without tipping them like she did in her lessons with books.

The papers fell around her in a cloud and landed on the floor as Dart cackled. He then helped her pick them up again and sent her off. Dame Primus scolded her when she saw the disarray the papers were in and sent her to work on her penmanship. Suzy bit her tongue and went quietly, earning a raised eyebrow from the Steward of the First and Second keys before she returned to putting the stack of papers in order.


	4. Chapter 4

**This is turning out differently than I intended; mostly because it is very interesting to bounce Noon and Suzy off each other. And I mean, honestly. We see quite little of what happens when Arthur isn't around. I know, a lot of this is only happening because I mixed Dark Pit with Monday's Noon, but I think Noon would still look out for Suzy. He's obviously got some autonomy and personality, given that the entire book series wouldn't have happened without him. If nothing else, she's not much use to him if she's getting her memory erased like she's supposed to, and being a Piper's Child means she has more potential than any denizen. I really do like how these two interact, though. It's fun. I'm going to resign myself to mostly writing about these two for the main portion of the fic, with Pit thrown in later. Then it'll all be tied up with everyone else towards the ending. Still not quite sure how to reconcile everyone, what with how everyone is related in the unaltered KttK series. I'll figure it out.**

* * *

Suzy was watching over the work in the Far Reaches. She greatly preferred when Monday's Noon gave her work, because it got her more interesting tasks in more interesting places. Granted, overseeing wasn't always interesting but she was learning more about how the House functioned. She did like to learn, especially if it brought her places like the bottom of the Far Reaches. Noon had shown her how to direct the workers to refilling the gaping hole in the House, and she was to manage it for a day or so. He would be close at hand, since she wasn't experienced. This was also the reason for the short time she was working here, in addition to the fact that the Far Reaches wasn't exactly under Monday's jurisdiction. Noon had simply wanted her to get different experiences, and he had to look after it in some capacity anyway, since Tuesday's Dawn, Noon and Dusk were all dead.

She was watching below her intently when she heard her name being called.

"What is it? I'm busy, can't you see that?" she groused, turning around to see a denizen holding a sheet of paper. He inspected it before speaking again.

"Suzy Monday's Tierce? That's you, right miss?" he asked again. She nodded impatiently, glancing down at the workers. She was determined not to mess this up. It wasn't the work itself that could get messed up, but the almost clockwork movement of the denizens. She had to make sure they all kept moving smoothly so as to maximize efficiency and not allow it to snag anywhere.

"You're scheduled to get washed between the ears today, miss. Come with me, I don't have a lot of time here; there's a lot of Piper's Children on the list here."

She froze. She was used to this procedure, although by its nature she couldn't really remember any of them. It was simply something that happened periodically, to all Piper's Children.

That didn't mean she liked it, and she'd forget everything that had happened. Meeting Arthur, being appointed Monday's Tierce… would she be demoted if she lost all her memories?! She didn't want to go back to being an ink filler!

"I think there's been a mistake. I'm Monday's Tierce, I can't do that. Somebody must have gotten something wrong." she declared with all the authority she could muster, but still becoming slightly scared. If she couldn't talk them down, they would take her. They always brought muscle, since some Piper's Children always fought them.

"No miss. You were specially placed on the list, by a higher up. You need to come with us."

Sure enough, more denizens stepped forward with the clear intent to grab her. She started to panic.

"You can't do this! I'm Noon's assistant, go ask him!"

"Do calm down. It won't take long."

They started dragging her away, and she yelled at the top of her lungs.

Not far away, Dart heard her shriek and instantly looked up from what he was doing. He'd know Suzy's voice anywhere. He strode out into the Pit and found the source of the screaming. Never had Suzy seen him look so angry or imposing as he stopped the denizens that were taking her.

"What is this? What are you doing to my assistant? She has a task, and I'm hard pressed to find a reason good enough to take her from it at the moment."

He spoke with unmistakable authority, and all of the denizens bowed to him and literally shrank a few inches under his furious gaze.

"I-I'm terribly sorry Mr. Noon, but she has been scheduled to be washed between the ears today-"

"I didn't approve this. And I will not. She is my assistant, and I need her to do her job."

"I am very sorry, but she is on the list-"

Dart stepped forward, took the list with a look of distaste, and ripped it to shreds.

"Now she isn't. Let her go."

The denizen stared open-mouthed for several seconds, but then shook his head slightly.

"It still needs to be done, sir."

He gave a small gesture, and the others started pulling her away again. Suzy grunted as she struggled ineffectively against them.

Dart's mouth tightened as he summoned his familiar Silver Bow.

The next thing anyone knew, the denizens taking Suzy had been hacked to pieces and only the one in charge was left. He approached that one and towered over him. The girl, now freed, ran to him and stood smugly behind him. She'd suspected that Noon would put a stop to this if he knew, and she was relieved to know she was right.

"This girl is not to be 'washed between the ears'. Be sure to remember that, and don't come back around here. Do I make myself clear?" he asked, his voice chilly. The denizen gulped.

"I'll… make a note of that."

He scurried off, to a chorus of 'hey! Don't leave us here!' and 'Well isn't this great, it'll take centuries to heal all this' from the cut up denizens. Dart rolled his eyes and ordered a few workers to gather up the parts and put them together so they could reattach properly. Denizens were very hard to kill, so hacking them to pieces as he had just done only put them out of commission for awhile. Dart didn't want to kill them anyway. He sighed and turned to Suzy, who instantly began talking at him.

"Thanks, Noon. I'm really glad you stopped them washing between my ears. Man, you showed that guy. He ran off like he was on fire!"

"I don't like that. I really don't. I didn't think they'd try to get you, seeing as you outrank most of them, but… well, anyway. I don't want to assume that someone won't try to get you again."

He frowned and looked down in thought. Then he rummaged in his pockets until he pulled out another silver bow, which of course couldn't have normally fit in his pockets, but… you could fit the most unusual things in your pockets here in the House.

In any case, he pulled out a pen and wrote directly on the hilt of the bow. It shrank until it was just two inches long, but in perfect proportion. Then he took out a sheet of paper and wrote on that, too, and set it on the miniature bow. It vanished, and the trinket glowed for a moment and grew a chain. He handed it to Suzy.

"Here, Suzy. Wear this, and if anyone else tries to take you to wipe your memory again, use it to call to me. I can use it to travel directly to you in an instant, since I doubt I could get there in time using conventional transportation. For that matter, you can use it whenever you're in any other danger. No, grammar lessons don't count as 'danger'." he amended, trying to get a smile out of her.

She did smile, but was still awed by his gift.

"Wow, thanks Noon. You mean it?" she asked, hesitantly.

"Listen, kid. You're under my wing, and I look out for my people. You're not being memory-wiped on my watch."

She smiled.

"Cool. That's a relief. I can't really remember, but I'm pretty sure I don't like being washed between the ears."

"Mm. I know why it's done, but I don't approve at all. There's nothing I can do though, other than for someone as close to my jurisdiction as you."

He sighed again, rubbing his temples.

"Come with me for now, Suzy. You may as well stay with me for now."

She nodded and trotted after him after he appointed someone else to her previous task.


End file.
